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News ReleaseSuccessful Remediation of Santa Fe Lake Site Leads to Removal from Superfund ListCLOVIS, NEW MEXICO, April 16, 2003:The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) today announced that an open house will be held April 24, 2003 to celebrate the successful remediation of the Santa Fe Lake Site to the point it has been removed from the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). Representatives from BNSF, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), Curry County and the City of Clovis will be available to answer questions about the site. Santa Fe Lake is a playa lake, located approximately one mile south of the BNSF railroad yard in Clovis, New Mexico. Wastewater was discharged from the yard into the lake, beginning in the early 1900's when the yard was first constructed. Before the site was listed on the NPL, the USEPA conducted an environmental site investigation in the late 1970's. Preliminary reports from that investigation indicated that heavy metals, total petroleum hydrocarbons and cyanide were present on the site. Santa Fe Lake was consequently added to the NPL in 1983 as "AT&SF Clovis." Cleanup of the site began in 1988 with the installation of a fence around the site to limit access. Next, a dike and moat were constructed around a 40-acre lake and beach area to prevent rainfall runoff from entering the lake. This allowed the lake water to evaporate and exposed the lake basin sediments for treatment. Treatment of the contaminated soils and sediments were performed through "land-farming" to enhance bioremediation of the hydrocarbons. The land-farming included aeration, moisture control and nutrient control. Treatment occurred in layers approximately 8 inches in depth and continued until either the hydrocarbons were reduced to the cleanup standards or no further degradation was occurring. "Overall the treatment process included approximately 5,600 soil and sediment samples and the treatment of 57,245 cubic yards of sediments and 125,235 cubic yards of soil," says Rob Werner, manger of environmental remediation in Fort Worth, Texas. Once treatment was completed, BNSF began the restoration process, which included planting native grasses within the lake basin, and any other areas disturbed throughout the remedation phase. On March 17th, 2003 the Santa Fe Lake site was formally deleted from the National Priorities List. "We are very pleased that we have successfully met our remediation goals and to have restored this environment to a more natural state," says Werner. BNSF will continue to maintain the site by routinely sampling the groundwater beneath it and ensuring that the native grasses are the primary vegetation at the site. A subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE:BNI), BNSF operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America, with 32,500 route miles covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces. BNSF is an industry leader in Web-enabling a variety of customer transactions at www.bnsf.com. The railway is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more grain than any other American railroad, transports the mineral components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough coal to generate about 10 percent of the electricity produced in the United States. OPEN HOUSE Date: Thursday, April 24, 2003 Time: 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Place: Santa Fe Lake Site is located on South Main across from Navajo Road Clovis, New Mexico Contact: Petra Sanchez, USEPA (214-665-6686) or Rob Werner , BNSF (817-740-7341). Casual attire with comfortable walking shoes is recommended For more information on the company and its transportation solutions, visit the BNSF Web site at www.bnsf.com BNSF Headquarters |
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